EAST LANSING — About 40 people marched along Abbot Road, from City Hall to the Hannah Community Center, where City Council members were about to meet on May 19, to protest last month’s fatal shooting by police of Isaiah Kirby following a stabbing incident.
They were fueled by what they saw in a narrated video of the police department’s response to a stabbing call shortly after 6 p.m. April 15 in the area of Lake Lansing and Abbot roads.
“We all decided to organize it because of what we saw in the videos from last Friday,” Kath Edsall, a member of the East Lansing Independent Police Oversight Commission, said minutes before the march began. “Not one of us can look at those without believing there was an excessive use of force that resulted in Isaiah’s death, an unnecessary excessive use of force.”
The marchers solemnly walked the few blocks to the Hannah Community Center, holding signs of “Justice for Isaiah” and “Resign,” and continued their protest once the city council meeting started. Along with other meeting attendees, they called for the resignations of Police Chief Jennifer Brown and City Manager Robert Belleman and the need for the community to do better.
Black residents told council members about their fears when dealing with police or when teaching their children how to deal with the wrong officer.
“Where are the hearts in the room? Where are the hearts?” East Lansing resident Virginia Caldwell asked. “We’re a community and we need to solve this. We can make decisions but walls have to come down and hearts need to come out.”
Marisa Gaines, 22, told council members she knew Kirby while growing up in Baltimore City and running on the same track team. “Isaiah was a very warm person, very kind,” she said after the meeting. “He always listened to people and what they had to say. From my perspective of Isaiah, he wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
After about two hours of comments, East Lansing City Council members responded by mourning the situation and emphasizing that Michigan State Police is handling the investigation.
Police believe Kirby was the suspect in the stabbing of a local attorney before police arrived.
“The tragedy of this is widespread, even putting aside the number of bullets that might have been used,” Councilmember Mark Meadows said.
In the released video, Kirby appears to have been shot while running toward the arriving police officers after officers told him to drop a knife. Kirby appears to have been shot additional times after he was on the ground but was partially upright as officers continued to direct him to drop the knife, which he did not.
Then an officer, who was in front of a patrol vehicle and behind Kirby, tells other responding officers who were behind the patrol vehicle and facing Kirby that he is shifting to non-lethal force as Kirby remains partially upright and still holding the knife, and shots are heard again. Police then used a police shield to hold Kirby down while they pried the knife from his hand, the video shows, before rendering medical aid.
There also is video showing the stabbing victim sitting on the ground at a nearby business, covered in blood, while medics tended to his injuries. That man was identified as Douglas Mielock, a local attorney. Police said previously he is recovering at home after a hospital stay.
The video was posted late Friday afternoon on the police department’s website, and the release drew condemnation from Kirby’s family and the Lansing branch of the NAACP.
Police did not say how many shots were fired, and it wasn’t clear from the video how many shots were fired.
Contact editor Susan Vela at svela@lsj.com or 248-873-7044. Follow her on Twitter @susanvela.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Protesters march after fatal shooting by East Lansing police
Reporting by Susan Vela, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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